Welcome to Minnesota Smear!

I’m here to introduce you to Minnesota Smear, an exciting trick-taking card game designed for 4 players. The objective is simple: your team must reach a score of 21 before your opponents do. Ready to dive in?

In Minnesota Smear, you’ll be playing with partners. Your partner will be sitting right across from you, so you’ll need to strategize and communicate effectively to secure victory.

Let’s Get Set Up!

To determine the first dealer, we’ll randomly select one player who will then pass the role to the left after each round.

Before we start playing, let’s shuffle the deck and deal 9 cards to each player. Keep in mind that the remaining deck won’t be used in the current round, so set it aside for now.

Understanding Card Rankings and Point Values

Now, let’s talk about the card rankings and their corresponding point values. In Minnesota Smear, the trump suit takes precedence. The order is as follows: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, Jokers, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low). If two Jokers are played within the same trick, the first one played has a higher rank than the second.

For the other suits, the ranking is traditional: Ace (high), King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2 (low).

When we play bidding, we get points for winning specific cards or meeting certain criteria. It’s pretty exciting, isn’t it?

So, there are different ways to earn points in the game. We can get points for winning high cards, low cards, or even for winning the Jack. And, of course, we can also earn points based on our overall performance in the game.

The high point is given to the team that plays the ace of trump. It’s a big deal because it’s the highest card of all. We can earn the low point by playing the 2 of trump. This is a small card, but it still counts for something.

Now, winning the Jack of trumps is special. The team that wins this card gets the Jack point. It’s a nice little bonus for being skillful. And finally, the team that scores the most points overall gets the game point. That’s the ultimate reward!

However, if there’s a tie, no point is awarded. It’s a bit disappointing, but that’s just how the game goes sometimes. So, let’s aim for those points and have a great time playing!

When it’s time to calculate the final score of the game, we add up the points based on the cards that our team managed to win in tricks. Here’s how it works: each ace is worth 4 points, kings are worth 3, queens are worth 2, jacks are worth 1, tens are worth 10 points, and the joker is worth 1 point.

In total, there are 4 points that we can win.

The Bidding Phase

Once all the players have received their hands, we begin the bidding phase. It starts with the player sitting on the left of the dealer, and they can either bid higher than the previous player or pass. Each player only gets one chance to bid. The bidding is done based on how many of the aforementioned points the player believes they can win in this round.

The minimum bid is 2 points, while the maximum bid is 4 points.

If all the other players pass, then the cards are thrown in and a new hand is dealt by the same dealer.

When the bidding begins, it ends as soon as the dealer places a bid or passes, or if a bid of 4 is made. The winner is the person who places the highest bid, and they become the bidder. After the bidding is done, the bidder gets to choose the trump suit.

Once the bidding is finished, every player has to choose 3 cards to discard, so that they end up with a hand of 6 cards. However, they are not allowed to discard any trumps unless they have more than 6 trumps in their hand.

GAMEPLAY

The bidder starts by leading to the first trick. The play then proceeds in a clockwise order. Each player after the bidder must follow suit if they have a card of the same suit. If they don’t have a card of the same suit, they can play any card, including trumps.

The trick is won by the player who plays the highest-ranked trump card. If there are no trumps in play, then the trick is won by the player who played the highest card of the suit that was led. The winner collects the trick and leads to the next one.

The round ends once all 6 tricks have been played.

Scoring: Winning and Losing Points

After each round, scoring is done to determine the outcome.

You and your team will decide whether or not you were successful in completing your bid. If you were successful, you will score the number of points won, which may be more than your bid. However, if you were not successful, the number of points you bid will be subtracted from your score. It is even possible to end up with a negative score. Keep in mind that the opposing team also adds any points they earned to their own score.

End of the Game: Determining the Winner

The game continues until one of the teams reaches a score of 21 or higher. The team that achieves this score is declared the winner.

If both teams happen to reach 21 points during the same round, the team with the higher total points will be the winner. In the event of a tie in total points, the team that made the bid will be declared the winner.

Hi, I’m Amber! I’m an avid gamer and writer from Austin. I consider myself a gaming expert and I have a special fondness for dogs, plants, and the game of D&D!